Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
by AYangThang
Summary: All of my stories less than 30k in length. Story 3: Remix. Summary: Yang, Weiss, and Blake navigate a handful of poor choices. All of them are at fault, and all of their hearts are on the line. Can they forge a romantic relationship from the ashes? Only time will tell. Pairings: Yang/Weiss/Blake. Ruby/Pyrrha. Jaune/Ren/Nora.
1. Index of Stories

**Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Index**

This will be a compilation of short stories. I'm using this first chapter an index to keep this organized. That way, as the list of stories grows people can find the pairings that they like, and avoid ones they don't. I know technically chapters aren't meant to be for full author notes and indexes, but since future stories may contain some really off-kilter test pairings, I really think this index/summary thing below would be best. Apologies for any minor annoyance/inconvenience that this first chapter post has caused, but I'm hoping that it will keep things clean and tidy.

 **Story Number 1: A Question of Romance **

**Summary:** Romance is in the air at Beacon Academy, and Ruby's trying to figure out what all the fuss is about.  
 **Pairings:** Ruby/Blake, implied Weiss/Pyrrha.  
 **Rating:** Teen. No needed warnings apply.  
 **Chapters:** 3/3  
 **Status:** Complete.

 **Story Number 2: The Worst Night Ever**

 **Summary:** After surviving a terrible forest fire, the members of team RWBY have to pick up the pieces.  
 **Pairings:** Blake/Ruby, implied Weiss/Yang.  
 **Rating:** Teen.  
 **Warnings:** Severe Burn Recovery.  
 **Chapters:** 5/5  
 **Status:** Complete.

 **Story Number 3: Remix**

 **Summary:** Yang, Weiss, and Blake navigate a handful of poor choices. All of them are at fault, and all of their hearts are on the line. Can they forge a romantic relationship from the ashes? Only time will tell.  
 **Pairings:** Yang/Weiss/Blake. Ruby/Pyrrha. Jaune/Ren/Nora.  
 **Rating:** Hard T/Soft M, no lemons, but it's a near thing.  
 **Chapters:** 1/10  
 **Status:** In progress.

 **Story Number 4: TBA **

**Summary:**  
 **Pairings:**  
 **Rating:**  
 **Chapters:**  
 **Status:**


	2. A Question of Romance: Part 1

**A Question of Romance: Part 1**

The concept of having a social life at Beacon was more than she bargained for.

It had all started when Ruby began filling out in the middle of the first semester. Her breasts had gotten slightly larger, and she was beginning to grow her hair out a little, subsequently getting noticed by upperclassmen. Most students started attending Beacon around seventeen or eighteen years old, and that meant that by third and fourth year, students were adults well into their twenties.

The problem was, Ruby was only fifteen. A lot of them didn't know how young she was. When they approached her looking for dates, it wasn't a malicious thing, but that didn't keep Yang violently chasing the older boys away. To say the blonde had begun garnering something of an overprotective reputation, was an understatement. Ruby shook her head every time it happened, hoping that when she turned sixteen Yang might mellow out.

It seemed as if romance was in the air among the students of Beacon. Ruby was no stranger to the love affairs that seemed to go on around the campus. It wasn't uncommon to catch two students necking in the corners of the dorms, or tittering on as lost lovers in the common rooms. It was sickeningly sweet, the kind of thing that made Ruby wonder what all the fuss was about.

Why would anyone actually want to kiss in the first place? What on face of Remnant was so alluring about the naked body? Ruby had seen plenty of people in various stages of undress, and she had yet to figure it out. Since asking Yang such a question seemed like a completely bad idea, she turned to the one thing never to do her wrong.

Books.

The beloved escape was something she clung onto at first, delving deep into the pages of several recommendations to gather insight on the topic. Although, these were of the romantic variety, and not of the lore or academic sort she expected she'd be given. Ruby could hardly be sure of the sorts of things found in these sorts of books, and though she enjoyed a good story about falling in love, she was glad she hadn't been given anything out of the seedier side of Blake's rather massive collection.

In spite of reading several stories cover to cover, Ruby still couldn't even fathom why the idea of romance and love seemed to echo down the halls of Beacon. They were hunters in training, after all.

Sighing, she closed the latest book with a shake of her head. It didn't have any answers either and with a soft groan, she realized just how entirely unhelpful such a thing could be. Flicking her eyes over to the side of the room, one of the books on the lowest shelf got her attention. It was infamous among the team, and so beloved by Blake that none of them touched it.

Biting her lip, feeling as though she was about to commit some sort of terrible crime, she reached for the book and cracked it open.

Ninjas of Love…

She should have known better than to peer into such an abyss, but as she did, she was drawn to it like a kitten to water. With curiosity and trepidation, all rolled into one.

Ruby couldn't stop herself as morbid curiosity took over. One page turned into two, and two turned into thirty, and before Ruby knew it, she was face-to-face with a jumble of words that rather crassly described lovemaking in a way that she was neither prepared for, or knew how to cope with. Once again, she wrestled with the concepts of desire and romance, two completely odd things that hunters just shouldn't need.

She thought upon that as she flipped the page, too distracted to construct a proper alibi when the dorm room door opened. Blake caught her, nose practically pressed to the open page.

"Blake!"

"Hello, Ruby…" Her greeting was soft and bored sounding. Monotone at war with a tiny yawn. Golden eyes flicked over to the now fidgeting girl. "Are you okay? You seem tense."

"Fine." Ruby chirped too quickly for her own good. "I'm fine. Just a bit hyper I guess. Too many cookies before lunch, blood sugar spike, you know how it is."

"Hmm. Makes sense then. Well, just don't let Weiss catch you bouncing off the walls, she can't stand it." Blake said, turning to her bookshelf and putting away a few she had needed for class. In exchange, she pulled out one of her particularly trashy dime store novels that left noting to the imagination. Yang had given it to her as a gag gift, and it turned out to be surprisingly good. She settled in, starting from the beginning.

Ruby was quiet for a while until a thought came to mind. "Where is Weiss anyway?"

"With Pyrrha, I presume." She reached up and pulled her bow away from her ears. Wiggling them as she made herself comfortable. It had been a long day of practice with her weapon, and she was happy to succumb to the depths of her choice reading. "Ren and Nora were in sparring practice, and I was trying to help Jaune work on his landings. He's still a little too reliant that Pyrrha can catch him."

Ruby nodded, her words fixated on where Weiss had snuck off to this time. "They keep spending more and more time together…"

"Does that bother you?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that…"

"But, it is something." Blake fathomed aloud, setting her book off to the side and perching cross-legged on her bed. "Yang's going to be out for a while, but if you feel like talking, I'll listen."

"I just don't know how to explain it." Ruby shrugged. "I mean, Yang has always been the type of person to be in relationships with people. It's all I've ever known or expected out of her because being with people makes her happy. It's just, now Weiss too?" That was a more complicated matter entirely, and floored her. "Weiss is as uninterested in that kind of thing as could be, and she's still dating Pyrrha."

"It's different for them." Blake murmured thoughtfully before her voice grew louder in her conclusion. "They're arranged to be married after graduation."

"No one should date because they're forced to!"

"They're _not_ being forced to." Blake sighed. "Weiss asked Pyrrha's parents for permission, they said yes. Then Pyrrha's parents called Weiss's to make it official, and to keep it from being a big public blowout and lesbian scandal the world over, Weiss's dad decided to cover it up by saying he arranged the entire thing…which isn't exactly untrue…he _is_ paying for the wedding."

"Saving…face?" Ruby crossed her legs, toes curling in her stockings. "Why would they do that? I mean, why would they need to?"

"Because Atlas is a conservative place, Ruby, that's why. They don't think being gay is okay over there, but, people will ignore political unions."

"Yeah, well I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it, we live in Vale." Blake dismissed with a laugh. "Being discriminated against based on gender identity and sexual orientation has been outlawed for over three decades…it's just that not everyone thinks the way we do."

"I don't know, Blake. It all seems kind of messed up to me."

Blake smiled and shook her head. "Remember last week, when we walked in on them? Weiss was on Pyrrha's lap. That wasn't fabricated. It was an organic part of their relationship that we accidentally interrupted. Besides, Weiss didn't seem to want to move, even if she was as red as a tomato."

"So…she does want to be with Pyrrha?" Ruby asked. "Like, really, really wants to?"

"The two of them have more in common than we like to think. Pyrrha's more casual than Weiss, but deep down, they both have a lot to live up to. It probably feels good to spend time with someone who understands those types of social pressures…" She flicked her ears, and leaned back against her headrest.

"But what if her dad is still making her do that? What if they're just pretending to act happy?"

"Weiss, acting happy?" Blake shook her head. "I don't think it's about force, Ruby. I think it's what they want to do."

"Okay fine," Ruby pouted, "but what about you…"

"What about me?"

"You love these books…and you're really into all that stuff…why aren't you with anyone?"

Blake looked down at the floor, eyeing the mess. Crumpled wads of paper left behind by Yang. The blonde had clearly been trying hard to study. The singes in the paper implied it had not gone as well as Yang had wanted. That was the crux of Blake's issue. She knew what she wanted out of her future, but nothing ever seemed to work out.

"The problem is being with someone, has been rather unfulfilling. Dating just seems to backfire on me." Blake finally replied. It was as truthful as she could possibly be. "I want to be able to live my life as honestly as possible, and here in Beacon, I can't do that. Very few people know what I am, and of those, most are paired off…even if I wanted a relationship, it's not like I have many options open."

At least Ruby could understand that, nodding sadly. "Yeah, sorry about Yang…"

"No, don't be." Blake laughed earnestly. "That was one relationship I'm glad to have had, even if it didn't last very long. Yang needed more attention than I could give her, and I needed more space and personal time than she could put up with. What makes us great partners in battle, is what also makes it impossible to be more than friends. That, and Yang's huge on PDA. She needs someone equally as spontaneous, I can't keep up."

"Oh, that makes sense." Ruby hopped down from her bed, crossing the room to sit at the edge of Blake's own. "One last question…"

"Hmm?"

Ruby showed Blake the book she had gotten her hands on, opening the page to a rather explicit piece of artwork. Two naked women tangled together in chains,while a third touched the both of them. "Well, I was just wondering, is this…you know, normal? Like, do people really tie each other up like that in real life, or is this just weird and impossible. Like that whole tentacle porn thing that's going around?"

As if the book might burn her, Blake reached out to take it from Ruby, closing the cover. "Er, well…I mean…that kind of depends...I don't think we should talk about that though. You should ask Yang if you want to know about it." More than just a little embarrassed, she cleared her throat reached for something else to read. Something decidedly less likely to raise such uncomfortable questions. "Here, how about you read this instead? You'll probably like it better…it's not as…um…weird."

Ruby grasped the book in her hands, reading the title. "Ninjas of Love: The Crouching Kitten's Crush…yeah, okay, I think I'll give it a try."

Blake let out a sigh of relief, ear flicking worriedly, hoping Yang wouldn't kill her for corrupting their team's young leader.


	3. A Question of Romance: Part 2

**A Question of Romance: Part 2**

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Blake winced, ears flattening back as Yang bellowed. It was a good thing they were out in the middle of the training field. Blake had made sure they were well away from the closed doors of the campus, a decision she thanked herself for in this very moment. Yang was smoldering hot, the temperature around them growing warmer as Yang's anger visually discharged into wisps of flame licking at her skin. Tiny balls of fire crackling like the sounds of a bonfire.

"I let her read one of my books. It might have a sexual scene or two in it." Blake said again with a sigh, knowing it was better to just tell Yang herself. Rather than wait for Ruby to go to her older sister with questions the blonde wasn't expecting, she thought it was better to warn the hot-tempered woman. "It was nothing too bad, I promise! Just, not exactly the stuff she's used to."

"Not cool, Blake! So not cool!"

"I know, I know, but it was what I thought of at the time..." Blake protested, scrunching into herself a little. "It wasn't like I wanted to, Yang, but she's getting older…and you know…she's getting _curious_."

"I'd ask about what...but I think we both know the answer to that." Yang swallowed hard, the tree next to her was as good a target as any, and she unleashed her insurmountable rage at it, splintering the entire thing into splinters. "Fuck!"

Blake sighed, thankful she hadn't been that tree. "Yang..." Blake said, seeing that those red eyes were now trained onto her in a dangerous way. "I'd never do anything to hurt her. At least, not intentionally."

"I know that, stupid...it's the accidents I'm worried about."

"Well maybe a few accidents aren't all that bad. We all make them and she's getting older." Blake murmured, golden eyes unable to look away from the smoldering tree stump. She squashed one of the little flames that hadn't gone out under the pressure of her shoe, feeling guilty the whole time. "Eventually, she will too...what are you going to do when that happens?"

"Oh, I know she's growing up. She's gone from a large A to a small B since we got here, and her skirts aren't doing her any favors." Yang ranted, palm pressed flat to her face, trying to cool the red hot fire in her eyes. "Now she's reading smut…damn it…just…shit, what book did you give her?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on giving her anything with sex in it. She was snooping around, and she got into one of my Ninjas of Love books…one of the volumes several books in, and full of fetishes. I thought maybe if I gave her something a little less perverse, it might sort her out a little. That blew up in my face, because she came to me today asking to borrow the next volume...and that one's not quite as vanilla."

"What kind of book _is_ that next volume?" Yang demanded to know. "Are we talking something like Ninjas of Love: Kit's Confessional, or something like Ninjas of Love: Kunai Code? Those two are way different kinds of reading."

"It's just the second book, it's nowhere near that point yet. You've read the second one. Ninjas of Love: Kitty Claws." Blake said, shaking her head. "I told her I was currently re-reading it to stall for some time, but you know how persistent she is. Do I let her read it, or tell her no?"

If looks could kill, Blake would have dropped dead right there in the middle of the field. "What do you think?! I can't even believe that's a question you even need to ask. Books like that have characters shagging on the ground in the forest with their ass in the air getting pounded from behind!"

Blake couldn't help the blush. "It was just simple missionary, and they were in a tent...what you're talking about happens in the fourth book."

"Oh, for the…I'm going to go talk to her."

"Yang, wait."

" _What?"_ She growled.

"Don't go back to the dorm mad. That's not going to help her." Blake said, taking a few steps forward, her voice soft. "I'm not saying that you two shouldn't have some sort of discussion, but if she doesn't learn how to handle herself, she's going to be in a bad place later on. You can't keep fighting her battles. She might be young, but she is capable."

"Not about stuff like this, she's not."

"Yang…"

"No!" Yang barked. "You do not get to stand there and tell me what you think is best for my little sister. She's a minor, Blake! She's not like us. She might be a great huntress, but in a lot of ways, she's still just a child, and she doesn't need to be making the same mistakes I did. Get it?"

"Got it." Blake said softly, her voice tight and constricted.

"Good, then keep your smut away from her. All of it." Yang ordered tersely. "If I catch her with one of those books, it'll be on you to answer for it."

Yang stormed off madder than a hornet, her feet carrying her to her dorm. She thought she might cool off, but she wasn't having any luck. Instead, she found herself grinding her teeth. The rage still poured out of her, cloaking her body in a layer of hot aura as she searched for her younger sister. It took longer than she thought, but she finally found Ruby.

She was sitting on the roof, sharing a muffled conversation with Jaune. Yang knew she shouldn't be eaves dropping, but she also didn't want to barge in on what seemed like a personal conversation.

Standing there quietly, she just prayed Jaune wasn't being a complete idiot.

"-not that it wasn't interesting to read." Yang heard Ruby say. "It was a good book. It was just strange, and I felt a kind of weird reading it."

"Weird, like awkward? Or a different kind of weird?" Jaune asked, and Yang was thankful he was much easier to hear through the metal door, as if he were sitting right beside it.

It was harder to hear Ruby. "-like I was looking into something that was really private or something. Hey, Jaune, what do you think love is, anyway?"

"You're asking me?

"Well, you liked Weiss."

"Of course I like her, but, I don't know if I love her. She obviously wasn't interested in me, since she made a move on Pyrrha. I guess I'll never get to know that, but, that's the way it goes sometimes."

"What makes a person want to as a person out? I mean, why do that if you know you are going to just get turned down?"

"When you put it that way…I don't know how to explain it." Jaune trailed off before leaning against the metal door, the sound reverberating to the other side that Yang stood on. "My mom used to tell me rejection isn't fatal. She's right. It sucks being turned down and all, but I can't keep focusing on Weiss. It's not fair to her, or to Pyrrha, or even to me. They're happy, and I'm happy for them, and that's what matters."

Yang leaned her head onto the brick wall, forcing out a shaky sigh, and trying for the last time to cool down the redness in her eyes. It wasn't working, even though she desperately wanted it to all just melt away.

"Ruby," Jaune continued, "maybe you're going about this the wrong way. I don't think books are going to tell you what you need to know."

"Oh, so, what do you think I should do?"

"Think about what makes you happy, and meet those kinds of people.." He said. "Maybe go on dates, or just, get a little closer to someone you know. See if they might be interested in spending more time with you, nice and casual."

Ruby seemed to laugh at that. "Have you seen my sister?"

"I don't mean the third year guys from the cafeteria." He shouted unevenly as if he were flustered. Yang peeped out of the window confirming that he was exactly as he sounded. "If you were my little sister, I'd chase them away too." Yang watched him scratch his head, at a loss before she ducked back down away from sight. "What I mean is, there's plenty of people in our class in the same grade as we are…find someone like that."

Yang pushed away from the door, appeased that Jaune wasn't hitting on the girl, but as she walked back to the dorm room, she couldn't help taking what he said to heart. Ruby really needed to get some perspective. She was about that age to start needing firsthand experience, even if nothing else. That didn't stop Yang from being worried though.

She nearly tore off the door to her dorm room. There was no one else around. Blake was probably wise to stay away, and with Weiss spending the afternoon on her own date. Yang knew there was nothing she could do at that moment besides try to take a nap. That's what she did, trying to put her whole bad day behind her.

* * *

She bottled her anger for days, studying Ruby critically, and sending Blake annoyed glares whenever they started talking about books.

Yang trusted Blake, but, she worried about Ruby more. There was no telling what she might get herself into next, and the blonde didn't want her younger sister to feel forced into growing up too fast. Everyone else had a couple of years on her, but as a teenager, even that small of a time meant leaps and bounds.

Yang knew firsthand the complications of self-discovery, and at a school like this, her sister could get caught up in a whole lot worse than Yang wanted to imagine.

The largest problem however, was something a lot more delicate. Now that she was looking for it, Ruby's newest suitor seemed to be right under her nose. Blake seemed to have something of an attraction towards the girl. Yang wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it.

To her credit, Blake's actions were mostly innocent. A lent book here, and long night in the library there, and more than one occasion when Ruby would impede Blake's personal space. The cat Faunus was always careful with Ruby, and not out of fear of what Yang might do to her, but careful because she wanted to be. As if herself seemed tentative about her own actions.

She respected Blake as a friend, which was why she wasn't thinking of blasting the woman off of the school grounds. However, Blake wasn't exempt from Yang's scrutiny either. Ruby was too young and too trusting to enter into the dating-world unsupervised, and Yang stood by that. Yang confronted her partner directly when they finally had another moment to themselves.

"So, I've been thinking long and hard about what to do with my little sister." Yang started.

"Oh?" Blake said wearily.

"Beacon's a big school, and I know I can't just follow her around all the time, but you know me. When I find out who's trying to get under her skirt next, I gotta put my foot down."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Yeah, Blake, I am." She adjusted her gauntlets back into their relaxed state and maneuvered over to the bench to blot her face with a towel. "I'm going to ask you nicely, and I'm going to expect that as my friend, you're not going to dick around."

Blake held up her hands, dropping her weapon on the training room floor. "If she got ahold of another book, it wasn't mine."

"Never mind the books! Are you trying to get with my sister?" Yang pressed dangerously.

"Get...with?

"You heard me. Yes or no. Simple question."

"I…." Blake shook her head. "No…"

"Real convincing." Yang said darkly.

"Stop being stupid." Blake snarled at the threat. "You're blowing this way out of proportion. I didn't do anything, Yang, she's coming onto me."

In a puff of hot air that exploded through the room, Yang's semblance forcefully fizzled out. "Huh?"

"Surprising, right?" Blake shrugged, not feeling the urge to repeat herself. She felt an unusually strong grip on her shoulder that brought her eyes back into focus. Yang was concerned, she could feel the tremble in her grip. Anger and betrayal lingered there too, but Yang was trying to fight it down.

"I need better than that." Yang said, with a quiet heat. "You of all people owe me better than that."

"She asked me if I could show her what a real date was like." Blake murmured softly, lifting her own hand to cover Yang's. It wasn't all that long ago that their own breakup hurt the blonde deeply. Yang pretended she was fine with it for Blake's sake, but the cat Faunus knew the truth. Yang wasn't completely over it yet. "I was surprised, you know? I'd never approach her like that, knowing how you feel about the whole situation. When she came to me, was just an honest little question, just like you could expect from Ruby."

"Blake...?"

"Honestly, I appreciated that sort of sincerity."

"So, what did you tell her?" Yang asked, very, very carefully. Her voice grating hard against her words.

"I told her that I couldn't do that before her sixteenth birthday, and to think about if that's what she really wanted. I was kind of hoping she would forget about the whole thing…but she hasn't, and I enjoy the time we spend together."

"So, are you a thing, or aren't you?"

"I. Don't. know! She's stuck to my side like glue all time, and I'm trying not to get any ideas."

"About these…. _ideas_ of yours…she's my little sister…she'll always take priority, you know that, right?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded. "I wouldn't expect anything less...but what we have works...it's never just fallen into place like that before."

"Fine then…I'm calling my dad, and you're going to explain this whole damn situation and see what he says about it." Yang pulled out her scroll dialing a number by heart, but her father's scroll was out of service. He must have been on a mission. "Dad's out, who knows when he'll be back. If you're really going to do this, you're getting the same rules dad gave me before I turned sixteen, and if you fuck up, I'll be the least of your worries. You'll have my uncle and my dad on your ass, too. Do you understand this?"

Blake let out a hard sigh, but she nodded. "What are the rules?"

"Don't be a pervert; no hitting the gym showers together unless it's after training as a team. No being in the room alone, unless the door is open. I expect to be informed about her whereabouts when she's with you, and no more sneaking out passed curfew. On top of that, you're not allowed to be alone with her out in the city. Someone else has to be with you guys when you go strolling around Vale. You can double-up with another couple if you're going on a date, but no being alone right now. Period."

"That..." Blake sighed. "That's fair."

"Also, keep your tongue in your own mouth...don't roll your eyes at me, I'm not kidding. One last thing…"

"What's that?" Blake asked, feeling like Yang would keep dumping all kinds of insane stipulations all over the place if Blake let her.

"Even after she turns sixteen, you keep your pants on until you both tell dad you're thinking about having sex…I mean it, _both_ of you tell him together." Yang said pulling away.

"This is no time to be thinking about that!"

"Blake, I'm not joking." Yang groused. "We both still listen to our dad. Until she turns eighteen, according to Vale's legal system she'll have to keep following his rules. He'll be pissed if you aren't up front with him. If you can't tell him you guys are going to be shagging, then you sure as hell better _not be_ shagging."

"You didn't tell him about what you and I were doing, did you?"

"Just that we were doing it…not what exactly the details…then I told him when we broke up." Yang sighed. "I'm not eighteen yet, dad still has parental rights…besides, he's paying my way through Beacon. I'm not going to disrespect that by hiding shit behind his back. If you know what's good for you Blake, you'll be open, honest, and up front with this family. You play by our rules, mine especially, until Dad gets home and tells you his expectations himself."

The truth hurt, but, Yang would deal with it. For Ruby's sake, even if not for herself. The hurt in her eyes seemed obvious though, because Blake addressed it.

"Are you okay...?"

It was like ripping a scab off a seeping wound, making it gush anew all over again.

"No, I'm not. I'm not going to be for a long time. We fucked up, I'm a big girl, I can admit that. I went all in, and you weren't ready, and that's on me. We should have talked it out more, set better boundaries...slowed down...fuck if only we had just slowed down." Yang sat down on the bench, giving Blake a hard stare. "I should have, Blake, and I'm sorry I didn't."

"Showing down isn't your thing. I knew that going in." Blake said closing the distance that separated them again, sweaty fingers slinging through blonde tresses to push them behind Yang's back. "If I'd known how invested in me you had been at the time, I would have been more careful...my past isn't an excuse for pushing you away."

"You shouldn't have felt like you needed to if the first place, but that was then, this is now. We both know friendship is all that we'll ever survive with each other." Yang pulled away from that too gentle touch again. "Listen, I'm trusting you with Ruby. That means best friend Yang, and partner Yang, takes a back seat to big sister Yang. Prove to me she won't get hurt, I'll stop giving you hell...until then, you're under my watch, and that's just how it is."


	4. A Question of Romance: Part 3 (Final)

**A Question of Romance: Part 3**

So maybe letting Ruby get a hold of the lewd reading material wasn't the wisest idea Blake had ever had, but she was sure the tirade Yang went on in the aftermath was even worse. Blake agreed to Yang's demands, and even understood on some level where the blonde was coming from, but Ruby wanted nothing to do with her older sister's protectiveness. The younger sister had her own vile temper when crossed, and to say she felt insulted was a huge understatement.

Ruby retaliated, harshly. It started off simply as a silent treatment that lasted for a few days, but then, she began to outwardly defy Yang's rules at every turn, a low simmering rage at the forefront of every offhanded statement. Every time Yang pushed, Ruby pushed back twice as hard, equally bullheaded, and both of them exhausted by their own fighting. Eventually, they made up and relative peace fell over the dorm room, but, Yang was still heavy handed, and Ruby was sneaky.

As a younger sibling, Ruby was no stranger to the nagging that Yang bombarded her with. She had heard it plenty of times before. Ruby also had a suspicion that whenever her dad came back from his mission, he would chew her ear off again personally just for good measure. The overprotectiveness was a Xiao Long trait that stood as a testament to the boorish personalities of the blonde members of her family.

To combat this, Ruby would go off to read quietly, and she began acquiring her own books. Reading material, which, as Blake soon found out, was much more questionable as far as content. One afternoon in the library, Blake got an eyeful of one lurid scene that made the Ninjas of Love seem chaste in comparison.

"Ruby…where _did_ you get this?" Blake asked, having borrowed the first volume.

"I went to the bookstore over by the south side of Vale." Ruby said, her nose buried deeply into the second volume.

"I…see…" Blake went back to reading worriedly, as she prayed that whatever was in the second book didn't get worse than what was in front of her eyes.

The explicit romance novel was almost too sinfully good, but the gritty realism of combat made this series more than just about romance. It followed a team of huntresses in their escapades around Vale, and what made it worse, was that it was based off of a true story, or so the front cover proclaimed. The lust of these four huntresses, and their comrades, would have priests blaspheming their churches...

Or, so Blake assumed, _if_ what those for women did in one of the pews happened to be true.

The novels starred a team of three humans and a fox Faunus, the latter of the team a frisky and fun loving woman, who couldn't keep her hands to herself for the life of her. There was a second team that accompanied the group were all Faunus. One was a male cat Faunus with a long white tail. One was lizard Faunus, and the scales on his body made his dark skin shimmer in the sun. The last two were twin sisters, wolf Faunus, who hailed from a huge family back in Menagerie.

Together, the eight hunter traveled Remnant, chronicling their lives.

"Ruby, you got this on the Faunus side of Vale's slum district." Blake said slowly. "You weren't anywhere near the central district, Tucson would never sell you something like this."

"Oh," Ruby asked, looking up from her own reading again. "Why's that?"

Blake closed the book and bit her lip. Well, frankly, as a White Fang contact, she knew the man. He had been a friend of her father since before she could even remember. His scent was always soothing to her, and she considered him a distant, but beloved kin. Choosing to omit that little detail, however, she cleared her throat. "Because, Ruby, human book stores don't normally sell these kinds of books to minors. It's something of a taboo, I suppose. Faunus are much less reserved. I mean, not that we really can be. Given our heightened senses, questions come up early…but humans…"

Ruby gave a shit eating grin, not even trying to hide the truth from Blake. "But, he could have sold it to me."

"I doubt that, but even if he did..." Her ears flattened back against her bow, a concerned expression on her face almost turned thoughtful, and boarded on stern. "Humans aren't like that…if Yang knew you had this, she'd blow a gasket."

"Well, then it's a really good thing that Yang doesn't know." Ruby shot back, though her grin had faded.

"Ruby…" Blake warned quietly. "You shouldn't go to that side of town by yourself."

"I just went to the book store, it's not like I went into any of the pubs or anything."

Amber eyes closed, a long suffering sigh falling from her lips. Standing up, she gathered all of the books, and grabbed Ruby's wrist, forcefully dragging the girl up with her. "Come with me." Blake ordered, still half dragging her back to the dorm room before slamming the door closed behind them. "Now why are you so interested in defying Yang?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'm _trying_ to, but come on, some of the things she's worried about are just flat out stupid. How else am I supposed to do what I want in my free time if she's going to go around tossing rules everywhere. It's like she doesn't trust me."

"It's everyone else she doesn't trust."

"Yeah, but I don't get why. It's really going overboard…" Ruby said stuffing her hands in her pockets. "When she was my age….well…you know."

Blake did know, she knew all too well. "I think that's what she's trying to avoid."

"Yeah, but I'm not her."

"I'm not saying that you are." In failure comes strength, or so Blake had been taught as a child. If that was true or not remained to be seen. "Yang just doesn't want you making the same mistakes, that's all….though…in doing that, I'm afraid you're going to end up making worse ones."

"Maybe…but aren't they mine to make?" Ruby asked quietly. "I can't even read the books I want anymore. She keeps looking over my shoulder….and besides, we're both breaking a stupid rule right now by having the door closed. She's worried over nothing."

"Well…it's nothing until it becomes something…" Blake clarified. "And I suppose that's her major problem. I don't care what you read, but I do kind of care where you get those books from. That particular bookstore is in a bad side of town. Lots of Faunus don't like humans. The reasons I take you to Tucson's is because I know he doesn't mind humans, and that area inhabits a solid mix of both communities." Blake didn't want to think about the sort of crime that went on deeper into the Faunus district. The area was indisputably covered in White Fang supporters and operatives.

"Well," Ruby groused, "I can get them anywhere else…and I like them. Besides, it's not like I have anything else to go off of."

"Granted, but, does it honestly bother you that much?" Blake asked slowly.

But Ruby didn't reply, and instead awkwardly looked down at her own feet. Standing in a way that made her look smaller than she was. She sunk into her cape, pulling it around herself, as if to hide. "I…life's short…you know?"

Blake's ears perked up so as to hear the murmured admission, but it was one that was filled with its own set of sordid calculations. The kind Blake didn't want to have answers for. "I..." She frowned what did she say to something like that? "Ruby...it's not _that_ short."

"It might be." Ruby said almost too quickly for her own good. "Who's to say what might happen, right?"

"I don't want you thinking like that. No one should, it's just depressing."

"But it doesn't mean it's less true."

Blake shook her head, but relented the truth of the statement for what it was. "I, for one, would prefer if you didn't think so negatively."

"I can't _not_ think about it." Ruby said softly. "If my mom dying when I was little taught me anything, it's that time isn't always as long as we think it is. One day, it just…ends. That's just how things are, and I don't want to spend that unknown amount of time wastefully. The way I have it figured, if I'm old enough fight Grimm, I'm old enough to have almost any other experience that I want to have…and I don't think anyone else has the right to tell me I can't, not Yang, or even my dad."

Blake hesitated. Ruby had a vary valid point to the bystander looking in. However, Blake knew Yang would bristle against such a remark, and didn't want to encourage it any further than that. "It's...complicated..."

"See, that's the thing though. It bothers me. Why would a hunter make those kinds of relationships? Why put yourself in that kind of situation? Hunters only end up going off looking for danger, and risk getting hurt. Being partners and friends, that's one thing. It's way different than being romantic. Why promise your heart to someone, when all you risk doing is hurting them when you don't come back? When you can't?" Ruby almost laughed bitterly at that. "Yang and I wouldn't be here if our moms hadn't gotten that close to our dad, right? So, why did they?"

Blake found herself looking out of the window. It was a very good question indeed, and one she couldn't respond to properly.

* * *

She didn't tell Yang about Ruby's private stash of books. Although, she had gone out and personally picked up the last cluster of volumes for Ruby. She didn't want her wandering back into the unsavory district that wasn't made for human trespassers.

Blake had also taken the time to scan the books, each one containing questionable content. Some of it was much more subjective than others. Honestly, she partially wished Ruby would just go back to reading the far less agonizing Ninjas of Love, fiction. It was much less depressing, carrying only a third of the character deaths, most of which being villains, and the adventures were in no way realistic.

This other series was based on a true depiction of huntresses, and it was another matter entirely. At the back of each book, there was a photo of the team, and a description of the author. The names had been changed, and Blake was sure some flair was gifted to the dull moments of each tale. Even so, the facts were terrifying enough on their own.

The woman with the eyepatch was, in fact, missing an eye. The fox Faunus who had lost part of her ear in the third book was standing in the photo, half of one ear missing from atop her head. It was as though it had actually been lobed off, just as the book had described. In another picture, the fox Faunus and cat Faunus stood together, but the young man with the long white tail no longer had it. His long, beautiful, tail had been docked.

If the book had been telling the truth, his tail had been stepped on by a large Grimm in battle, crushing it, and the doctors had to dock it for his own good. The way he stood with a walker, it was clear that his spine was never the same after the injury. In the last photo, there was a grave marker. The original four members of the team standing around it with flowers, and the three members of their allied team standing around to take the black and white image.

These women had loved, lost, and loved again…some of them more than once…and then there were others in the series who were loners, finding brothels to fill in the otherwise lonely nights. They were true huntresses, telling the truths of their lives, embellished or not. Choosing to put themselves out there, their hearts were made a spectacle for the readers…and truth be told, Blake wasn't entirely sure she was okay with that.

This wasn't just fiction, it wasn't just a bunch of throw away dialogue, and sexually tantalizing images splashed across the pages.

This was true love, in all of its forms, laid bare by the voices crying out to be heard…and the Faunus in these tales particularly spoke volumes to her. A rouge group had been renamed, but Blake knew it was the White Fang. When she was young, and the leadership changed, many fled the organization in fear of their lives. All of it hit too close to home. That she might have crossed paths with these people terrified her. That the Faunus had battled so hard against their own kin, demonstrated the brutality that Blake herself had to face every time she thought of her old organization.

The entire thing made Blake put the books down for good, her mind awash with the gruesome implications. Going back to mindlessly doodling on a piece of paper, her thoughts trailed off to Ruby's question earlier that week.

What was the appeal of being with someone, when all that could be promised was eventual pain and hardship? Taking that question step further, why choose to put yourself in danger, knowing the agony it would cause? The book made herself ask those questions, and frankly, she didn't like the conclusion she had come to.

"It's because being alone already hurts in the first place." Blake said thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Ruby asked looking up from her book as they sat at a table in the library.

"The appeal of being with someone…it's so that you're not alone. If you like being alone, then you won't want to be with another person…being in love won't be a big deal…but if being alone hurts, then you'll want to ease the pain. It hurts a lot less once you're in love, and that love is reciprocated. There is no guarantee it'll last forever, but, if it lasts long enough, then it'll be worth it."

"Really?" Ruby asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

"Yes. Pain is unavoidable though, in either case." Blake nodded, keeping her voice down. "So, the way I see it is, if it's worth it to you to hurt later instead of in that moment, you'll take the risk."

Ruby absorbed the explanation slowly. "Does it hurt right now?"

"A little." Blake admitted, much to her dismay.

Ruby nodded at that, her hand falling over Blake's own as they sat side by side at the table. She didn't know what to say, and chose silence instead of words she thought might make things worse. She kicked her feet back and forth, just barely skimming her boots across the floor, her gaze fixated on their joined hands, and the warmth that seemed to emanate from that point of contact.

It was a small thing, and she'd taken the sight of the action for granted when she saw others doing it. Now, Ruby couldn't help but just look at the point connecting the two of the. It was a strange sort of action that wasn't as meaningless or silly as she once thought.

"I don't want it to hurt anymore." Blake whispered.

Ruby nodded softly, barely visible, and she wondered if Blake had caught it. "I wish people didn't have to hurt...I'd stop it, if I could."

Blake looked up from her own musings, golden eyes meeting steel. "You probably could, for one person. It's not an easy thing. It's not something that goes away overnight…and it just hurts, okay? Investing yourself into someone so much, only for things to fall to pieces even when you try your best to make things work…I have no other way to describe it...everything just hurts..."

"It shouldn't have to."

"But it does!" Blake hissed under her breath, her teeth dragging out the bitten words. "The moment you decide to put your time and energy into someone, you're risking that pain. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want you to ever feel the way I do right now, or the way I have in the past."

"Who says I will?" Ruby asked.

Blake could only sigh. "Who says you won't? I don't want to be the cause of it."

"One date…you said I could have one. Yang's not happy, but she didn't say we had to wait." Ruby pressed quietly. "Jaune said I should stick close to people who make me happy. Being around you makes me happy…I don't know if that'll ever change or not. Or, if being around you could somehow make me unhappy, but I'm never going to know that until it happens, right?"

* * *

Blake had, with great reluctance, agreed to take Ruby on her first date. It wasn't that she didn't want to. Far from it, in fact.

However, in spite of her desire, Blake feared hurting the girl.

She feared doing the same sort of damage that her own history had provided ample experience with. Blake hated to admit it, but there were times she missed having Adam in her bed at night. There were moments she wished she could just crawl up onto Yang's bunk, and bury herself in the brawler's warmth. Distance didn't make the heart grow fonder, but it certainly didn't make the sheets any less cold at night either, and that's what Blake was afraid of.

Ruby understood loss, and the harsh lesson was one that carried the girl on her path to being a huntress. Yang was right though, Ruby was still just a child, just as Blake herself had been when she entrusted her heart Adam. Fifteen was a tender age, and at that time in her own life, her heart, her body, had already been given over willing to someone she loved desperately.

Blake was still unsure if that was truly the mistake she thought it to be. She was sure, at one time, she had made the right choice.

The stone cold bull Faunus had rough fingertips, but a warm voice. He was vicious and calculating, Blake had known that from the start. Yet, he was always gentle with her. When she was young, he hilted his blade, and kept a mindful eye on his words. He showed mercy to others when he was faced with her wet golden eyes. He was always annoyed when he had to do such a thing, but the fact that he did, and for her sake, was what kept her at his side.

He looked after particularly young Faunus, and cared about his people. As an adolescent, he was jaded, and he was dangerous, but at the time, he hadn't been a complete monster. Not until the Vale branch of the White Fang fell into his hands…then, he changed…and Blake still couldn't pinpoint how, or why. Only that he did. Only that, though she desperately tried to temper the darker side of him, she couldn't ease him. She couldn't help him.

In the end, she couldn't even stop him from hurting others. When all was said and done, she couldn't even stand to look at him.

When that love fell to pieces, she was still, frankly, only a child. It took her some time to grow up and to leave him entirely. On the verge of being eighteen, she still had nightmares of him. Of what he might do, or could do if he wanted. She was not completely free of him, he would always be a ghost of her past. A murmur of fear that would always trickle through her, honest to god proof that a person could turn into a demon right before her very eyes.

She didn't want to become someone else's nightmare. The shadow of failure that haunted someone else. Not Yang, and most certainly not Ruby. She didn't ever want to become someone else's monster.

* * *

Friday night came around faster than Yang wanted it to, but here she was, doing her little sister's hair in preparation for her first double date ever. It was a big moment to Yang, and a hard one to swallow. Not just because the person Ruby was going with was Blake, but that this night marked a moment in history Yang would never get back. The first date meant more to follow, either with Blake or someone else.

Once Ruby started, Yang couldn't stop her, or hold her back anymore.

This was setting the precedent, and Yang felt it important to drill all of her rules into Ruby's head again, just out of paranoia. She would have done the same to Blake, if the dark haired girl was in the room The Faunus in question was over in JNPR's room, getting ready for the night on the town.

"- and don't think I won't ask Weiss and Pyrrha if you guys behaved when you get back, because I will. If I do find out you guys were getting ahead of yourselves, Blake will be banished to JNPR's dorm while Pyrrha stays here. She might be my partner, but I swear I'll kick her out."

"But we read together after lights out!" Ruby protested, giving her older sister an annoyed glare. "You can't just kick Blake out of her own bed, she's assigned to our team, and to this room."

"Then you better decide what's more important to you. Staying up half the night reading, or sucking face."

"Ew, Yang, that's gross. You make it sound like Blake's some sort of alien."

"You've seen those face huggers in the movies, just don't be them, that's all I'm saying."

"Yang Xiao Long, must you be so crass?!" An indignant voice shouted from the bathroom.

"Yeah, guess I do Weiss." Yang called back.

"Leave Ruby alone." Weiss said, peeking her head out from the bathroom doorway, her hair was wrapped up in a towel while she waited for it to dry. "It's just a simple outing. We're all going to dinner for some pizza, strolling the boulevard, and stopping at the Beacon's student run café for desert. It isn't as if we're going to corrupt your sister."

"It's still her first double date, Weiss."

"And I promise you, I'll hold Blake and Ruby to the same standard of decorum that I hold myself to while in public with Pyrrha. Now if you will kindly stop making a fuss for three seconds, I'd like to braid my hair in peace." Weiss said as she slipped back into the bathroom.

Yang shook her head, sighing as she continued to fuss with Ruby's own unruly tresses. "I want you to have a good time, but I want you to be safe too."

"Yannng come on, lay off already." Ruby pouted, flailing around to keep her sister from smoothing out her brown and red tresses. Any flatter, and they would be glued down. She shook her head back and forth, flinging her hair about wildly, and then running her fingers through the mused hair instead. "I can get ready by myself."

"I know you can, now let me finish."

Ruby yanked the hairbrush out of her big sister's grasp. "Do you trust Blake? Or is it that you really don't, and you're only going along with this because it's what I want and you're trying to make me happy?

"Why do you ask?" Yang brushed away nervously.

Ruby frowned. "Because I kind of get the feeling that you really don't trust her."

Yang bit her lower lip worriedly. As she flicked her eyes over to the clock, she noticed they still had plenty of time. "There are different kinds of trust. I know she will protect you if it ever came down to it. It's just that I'm her ex-girlfriend too, and so I don't trust that she has herself in the right headspace to actually be with another person. I don't trust that this is going to last, Ruby, and I just…I don't want you getting your hopes up."

Ruby seemed to think on that, her frown deepening. "Okay, but, she's still your friend, isn't she?"

"Yeah Ruby." Yang sighed. "She's still my friend."

"Well, she's my friend too, and my teammate." She said looking herself over in the mirror, more than satisfied with how she looked. "And if you can't trust friends and teammates, who can you trust, right?"

"It's not that simple."

"For me it is. I either trust someone, or I don't." Ruby told her. "And I trust Blake, so I think it would be really cool if you would stop being weird. I didn't ask for Blake to spend the rest of her life with me. I asked for one night, and she's giving that to me."

"Yeah…" Yang sighed. "Ruby, still, for me…play it safe. Keep a level head, okay?"

"I'll be fine." Ruby told her, standing up and heading for the bathroom, saying something about brushing her teeth.

Before Yang could follow her in there to continue her nervous tirade, a knock came at the door sooner than expected. Already a bundle of anxiety, Yang nearly flung it off of its hinges. "It's four thirty, what are you doing here?"

"Besides the fact that it's my room?" Blake asked with an upraised eyebrow. "I thought Ruby might want to stroll around the gardens, just us, before we met up with Weiss and Pyrrha at the airbus…but first, can we talk?"

That wasn't technically breaking a rule. The gardens were still on Beacon's campus. Yang gritted her teeth and sighing heavily, she stepped out into the hallway. Closing the door behind her harder than she meant to. She went on the offensive. "If you do anything to hurt Ruby, I swear I'll-"

"I'm sorry, Yang." Blake interrupted, as she pulled her partner into a hug. "No matter how many times I say it, it doesn't change anything. I know I hurt you…and I know… _I know_ that this is hurting you too. No matter how much it does, you'll put Ruby first because that's how much you care. So, please, just drop the act. I know you're not okay."

"You…just…" Yang pushed Blake to arm's length. "God damn it…you're lucky I still love you, or I would have put you through the wall by now…"

"Yang, I-"

"No!" Yang sighed with a shake of her head. "No, I don't want to hear it...okay, just...make this night good for Ruby. Keep your tongue in your own mouth, and have her back by curfew."

"I will, Yang, you have my word."

It was the best the blonde could hope for before sending her sister off on the first date she ever had, arm in arm with Blake. The usual niceties were spoken, complements and those little sideways blushes over flattery…all of the little things Yang had outgrown clearly displayed on her little sister's face.

Yang didn't know if that made it better or worse as she leaned on the door wall, swallowing the lump in her throat as she heard Ruby's soft laugh dissipate from around the corner. The two were out of sight. She still wasn't sure what Ruby was hoping to gain from all of this, and partially, she was deeply afraid to ask.

She went inside and closed the door, finding an annoying black bird cawing at the window. Sliding open the screen, she let it flutter around the room, the same as they always seemed to do when she was a little girl before it perched on her shoulder. She never knew exactly why they did that, but it was a small measure of comfort as she sat on the sill, overlooking the gardens. From this angle, she could see Blake and Ruby, two young women strolling hand in hand among the flowers.

It still hurt, but Yang had to admit, the smiles on their faces were sights to behold…and that alone made all of the heartache worth it.

* * *

 **AYangThang** _:_ I hope you enjoyed this short little story for what it was, though, it does have direct sequel that will eventually be added to this gatherings of shorter works. In the meantime though, I hope you ladybug fans liked what you saw…and that you're all excited for the next short story, where we veer off the beaten path for something a little different.

Until next time, everyone!


	5. The Worst Night Ever: Part 1

**AYangThang:** This particular short story contains a cluster of short chapters, each less than 1k in length. Ladybug and Frezerburn featured.

 **The Worst Night Ever: Part 1**

I was standing in a hellhole.

This was, without a doubt, the worst fucking night of my entire life.

I've had bad ones before, sure, everyone does, but this one is by far the worst I've ever known. It was just supposed to be a routine field mission. It wasn't hard, and we'd been in this forest before. Cockily, we readied our gear and headed into the forest to take out a few Grimm. Nothing more, nothing less. There weren't any teachers monitoring us, but we knew that going in.

We thought we were ready.

We weren't. I'm the only one suited to nighttime combat, and because of that, Ruby put me in charge of calling out commands. It was my first time doing it, and I was nervous. Everything was going fine, until the four of us were split up. A fire broke out among the trees, a blaze so strong that we didn't have a chance to extinguish it. That wasn't the worst part.

No, the worst thing was that Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, couldn't possibly escape that blaze alone. Yang had to go get her, Weiss and I were powerless to help. I knew that the fire was bad, deadly even, but there was nothing I could do. Only Yang's semblance could possibly protect her from the extreme heat radiating off of the fallen trees and blazing logs.

Weiss was conflicted. Torn between going after Ruby, and holding Yang back. I could see it in those crystal blue eyes. Weiss wanted to keep Yang from going into the fire. Desperately, she wanted to. She knew she couldn't ask that. Not to Yang, not to me. Not while knowing doing so would seal Ruby's fate. None of us could accept that, so wordlessly, we watched Yang disappear into the cloudy black smoke.

I turned to look at Weiss, her fearful gaze reflected back at me, lost for words, we waited. It was all we could do. We hated ourselves for it. I could see the fury, the loathing I felt, lingering in those wet blue eyes. Rage at war with sorrow.

"We should go after them." I heard Weiss say.

"There's no point." I groused, clenching my eyes shut at the sickening feeling in my gut.

"If we…" The words died in the air. She knew it was a worthless effort too.

Only Yang could possibly navigate that heat. It was bad enough Ruby was in that mess, if I let Weiss get hurt, Yang would never forgive me, so I stayed put. Side by side with Weiss Schnee, pulling her to my chest as the time ticked by. At first, she just waited with me, but then, she started to struggle, her words inarticulate and muffled in the fabric of my shirt.

I held her closer still, begging her, pleading with her not to look at that fire.

She wanted to be with Yang.

Just as I wanted to be with Ruby.

If that meant death, so be it.

Standing here waiting, powerless, it wasn't mercy…it was cruelty…I knew that but still, I refused to let her go. If Yang and Ruby died here tonight, it would be my fault. I would accept that, but I wouldn't let the flames take Weiss too. I promised Yang, I'd protect her. I swore to Ruby, no matter what, I'd never run from my teammates again. I'd stay. I'd listen…no matter the cost, it was the vow I swore to her.

I don't know how long we waited, but Yang finally came out from the billowing smoke. Her sister, my mate, limping at her side.

Ruby smelled of smoke and ash, it tinged my nose along with the metallic scent of blood. Her burns were terrible, I was afraid even touching her would hurt her. I knew as she collapsed into my arms that if she fought any harder, her aura would never have held out. As it was, it was a godsend she was even standing on her own two feet, though I was supporting most of her weight.

I took a breath, a long sigh of relief I didn't realize I was holding escaping my lungs, and my eyes began to burn. A sob tore away from my throat as I nuzzled my nose into the nape of her neck. I felt her finger caress my cheek before her steel eyed gazed melted entirely, and her eyes slipped shut. Ruby's breathing evened out as her body demanded much needed rest.

I hoisted her up in my arms, both emotionally numb, and yet elated, all at the same time. The feeling was odd, I chose not to question it.

Instead, I looked over to Weiss and Yang, the heiress gluing herself to my tall blonde partner. Yang and I shared a look, and I could tell she was grateful to me, but for what reason, I dared not guess. The walk back to Beacon was equally silent, the sounds of Ruby's soft breath was the only thing easing my heart at all.

This was the worst night of my entire life, and as I held Ruby in my arms, I swore to myself, another night like this would never happen again.


	6. The Worst Night Ever: Part 2

**The Worst Night Ever: Part 2**

Sometimes I honestly wondered if I was cut out to be a huntress. If I truly had what it took to survive the training mentally.

As part of our extensive battle training and field missions, we had to deal with the medical needs of our teammates ourselves. So long as the injuries themselves weren't life threatening, our teammates were in our care. We were shadowed by doctors telling us what to do, and how to do it. We had all come back with a scorch or two. An aggravation and little more, but, Ruby's burns were blistering.

The moment we touched her, it hurt, and I almost wished she's fall back to her unconscious state.

Delirium had to better than this…that knowing we were the ones hurting her by simply treating her burns as best as we could. Aura transfer could heal cells, and it would have hurt less, but the situation demanded against it. Rapid growth of healthy cells shortens a hunter's life. Cells can only reproduce a set number of times, and so such a treatment was reserved for emergencies only…and while this looked terrible, the burns were only second degree…

Although, by the sounds of it, that was even worse.

Yang couldn't take it, and she left the room just as soon as we were told second degree burns tended to hurt worse than third degree burns, the latter of which normally destroyed nerves in the surrounding area. Thanks to Ruby's powerful aura, only the deepest burns on her back, would scar. The doctor called her lucky, but all I could think was that this could have been prevented.

It should have been, and this was my fault. I'm sure than Yang and Weiss felt the same, though, neither one of them said it.

I looked out of the fifth story window if the medical building. I saw the billowing smoke, all of the damage that was done to that forest. A team of skilled hunters were likely putting out the blaze. It didn't comfort me. Even after Ruby's wounds were cared for, and an IV provided hydration her body sorely needed, I still couldn't wrap my head around all of the emotions in my gut. I felt happiness and relief that she was alive. Feared causing her any more pain. I hated the near requirement to do so, just to keep her safe and prevent infection…it had to be torture for her…

"Go…"

I lifted my gaze to Weiss. "I can't."

"Yes," Weiss huffed quietly. "You can. Now go."

My feet wouldn't carry me out into the hallway. I wanted to get away from this mess. I just couldn't. I was stuck in place, the same way I had been all night. Wanting to move, wanting to do something, and knowing anything I did would only make matters worse in the short term. I couldn't bring myself to think of the future, I had no idea what that would bring, and like the coward I was, I refused to focus on that.

"Blake?"

"I did this." It was the only thing that made sense in the fog. My hazy mind lingered on guilt.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"It's my fault." I wasn't looking for pity, it was just a factual statement in my mind. "I could have killed her tonight." I murmured. "If Yang hadn't been able to get to Ruby in time…" I couldn't even imagine a world without Ruby in it, and I came too close to experiencing that world tonight. "I did this...it _is_ my fault."

"If you truly feel that way, then you have no right to be anywhere near my partner. If you did this, you can't be trusted. Go outside, sit with Yang, and stay away from Ruby."

I looked up from my place, squeezing the tube of antibacterial ointment too tightly, feeling it ooze out into my hand. I was aware of the dagger-like gaze cutting into me. The seething rage that was cool and quiet. I wanted her to yell at me, and she knew it too. I assume that's why she didn't. She refused to give me even that measure of solace. Not a single moment of gratifying my self-loathing.

"I'm sorry." I said, but it didn't give either one of us satisfaction. Weiss didn't want an apology.

"Don't make me your enemy, Blake. I'd like to think we're better than that. The thing things we've said and done to each other made us stronger people, and a better team. Don't make me question that decision." Weiss told me. "It was an accident, and we can't undo what happened out there. Ruby's out of commission. She put you in charge. Leadership of this team falls to you." I could hear the acid in her voice. "So, get the hell away from my partner, and don't come back until you're ready to stop being such a damn disappointment."

There it was, the out I so desperately needed. The excuse to just walk away. The reason to escape. I could blame Weiss later, and she would bear the entirety of the blame. That much was obvious. It would be easier if I left the room. If the smell of that fire didn't touch my nose in such sickening ways. If I didn't hear every tiny murmur of discomfort, or Ruby's sometimes inane ramblings as the pain medication kicked into to overdrive. It would be easier if I fell into the same old patters, sunk myself into my usual routine.

Easier, but not better.

I felt light headed, and sat down in a nearby chair. I wouldn't leave, I couldn't bring myself to do that.


	7. The Worst Night Ever: Part 3

**The Worst Night Ever: Part 3**

Weiss and Yang have a rather...intimate relationship.

Honestly, I envy them.

It's not sexual, just unspoken. A lot of times, they don't have a need for words.

Yang has a fixation for keeping Weiss close by, and Weiss has a fixation for perfect grades. The way they're sitting, Weiss planted firmly in Yang's lap with one of the Beacon text books open, it's a special thing. Delicate and fragile in its own way. I know Yang doesn't seem it, but she's a gentle soul. Brash, angry at a lot of things, terrified about being abandoned by the people she cares about. The way she just holds Weiss in her arms, eyes closed, burying herself under that long mane of white hair…she looks defeated like that.

Akin to a kicked puppy, actually, not that we don't all feel that way in our own right, currently. Guilt seems to be a rampant thing in this dorm at the moment. Weiss seems to accept that Yang's going to be all the more pervading to the senses than normal because of it. My partner is just that clingy.

Ruby and I don't have that same sort of connection yet. That moment when non-verbal communication speaks louder than words hasn't reached our relationship yet. It's too new. The problem is, there are things I want to communicate, that I just can't. I still feel guilty that I let her get hurt. I want to be the one in her place. I'd switch places with her, if I could.

But, no, I can't say that.

It would only hurt Ruby, and my guilt is not her burden. Her bunk is empty, and I know she sent us back to the room so that we could rest, but I just can't. I thought being away from everything would take some of it away, but I just feel worse now. I need to be with Ruby, I know I do. So, why am I just sitting here on my bed? I already know the answer to that. Ruby wants me to try to rest. She wants Weiss and Yang to go to sleep, and not worry about her. We're going to worry, and I'm going to keep hating myself.

A handful of hours, and feels like an eternity when a person is miserable, and I know for a fact that Ruby has to be.

We feel like total shit too.

Weiss might not show it plainly, but she's fidgeting with the corner of the page she's reading. Finger flicking back and forth along the tip, rustling it ever so slightly. Most people don't notice her fidgeting, but I do. She argues fidgeting helps people to pay better attention to their surroundings, and she claims that she absorbs information better because of it. She can say that all she wants. It doesn't change the fact that she seems upset. I get the feeling she's putting up an act. That finger moment is too mechanical, thoughtful, as if she's trying to maintain a sense of normalcy that neither Yang nor I could possibly attain.

It makes sense. Weiss is a simple person when you dig down into the core of the matter. She clings to what she can expect, and shuns what she can't.

It's why she's not flinching at Yang's wandering hands as they slide under her shirt. Or complaining at Yang's toned arms wrapping themselves around her slender midriff. Weiss knows what to expect from that, it's a common display of affection, one of many. Although, I wouldn't say Weiss adores calling attention to their relationship, she doesn't discourage it either…which, for Weiss, says everything anyone would ever need to know about her affection for my blonde partner.

It's all just a matter of trust.

Ruby's looks and her actions are deceptive by accident. No one would think she's a deadly huntress in the making just by looking at her. I was raised to be deceptive, taught to be duplicitous as a method to survive, and my history demanded that duality….but, Yang? No, she's not a deceptive person. She sucks at being that way. She looks like a huntress, acts like a huntress, and inevitably what you see is what you get.

Sure, she may be defensive and bullheaded to a fault, but it's as obvious and open as the rest of her….which I suspect is one of the reasons why Weiss trusts Yang so deeply. So completely. It's an implicit level of blind certainty that she would never give me or Ruby. That's the way it should be for lovers.

Unwavering and unquestionable.

I wish I could be worthy of receiving that same level of faith from Ruby…but, I won't be. I'll never be, and in spite of that, Ruby will trust me blindly anyway, simply because she wants to. Our relationship can't and shouldn't be comparable to others I know that. I get it, but still...when I look at Weiss and Yang it's hard not to.

I want what they have. I want to be worthy of that kind of commitment...and I don't want there to be any doubt in Ruby's mind...but, people doubt. Fear happens. I don't know if I can ever meet those impossibly high standards. Even though Ruby would never hold me to them, it's as though I have to hold myself beyond them. I don't belong here right now, I have other places to be...a place I shouldn't have left no matter how much she shooed me off...

I should have stayed. I need to go back.

Wordlessly, I get up and leave the room. If we're all doomed to be trapped in our own heads anyway, I want my cage close to Ruby.


	8. The Worst Night Ever: Part 4

**The Worst Night Ever: Part 4**

Gray is a strange color. It's a muddled thing, ugly, but serene. Some might call it depressing, but I just call it empty. The sky is dimly shaded in the hue. The sun will rise soon. Classes will begin, and I'll be forced to leave her side again for long lectures and longer battle drills. Weiss will be excused, of course, because they're partners, and Weiss belongs at Ruby's side.

...I can't help feeling angry about it...

Rage is not an emotion I understand very well. At least, not when in regards to my own temper. That's Yang's domain, or Weiss on a bad day, but, not mine. I've never been this…angry at myself before. This…disgusted. Yang could smear me across the ground and I'd let her. I deserve it. I'd throw myself at the mercy of Cardin right now, if I thought his malignant hatred of Faunus culture could possibly bring any good from this. If my suffering would bring any pleasure to Ruby, in some sick, twisted, _unjustifiable_ and horrible way...I'd still do it without question.

It's insulting, to the both of us. Ruby would never...fuck, I would never think that way...or, maybe it's because I've never been given a reason to think that way...Either way, this is not what I can become. Not now. I growl to myself as I bite my lower lip. I've got to be better than this, and that's the whole damn issue. I owe her to be better than this, she needs better than me.

Ruby looks like she's in so much pain as her head lulls to the side, and she looks at me.

"Go back to the dorm." She orders.

"I can't." I say, trying to keep my voice level. I know I've failed when her hand reaches for mine.

"You can." Ruby says quietly, her voice so raw from all the smoke. It's dry, raspy, not like the normal sound I love so much.

"I can't. I want to, but I just can't. Ruby, you don't understand."

"What don't I understand?"

"It's….nothing… Never mind." I can't tell her.

"It's something. What is it?" She asked weakly, a coughing fit tormenting her in the aftermath.

I wait for it to subside, and ease a small paper cup of water to her parted lips, trickling the cool and clear substance as slowly as possible, so she won't choke. I hear her pained swallow, the force she requires to do even that tiny little task. Her eyes close, and she takes a breath, and I hope beyond all reasonable hope that she doesn't press the conversation…but then her eyes open again, fixating on me, and I feel my heart shatter under her gaze.

"Blake, what is it that I don't understand?" She presses, this time, there's a harder undercurrent to voice. One she intends to be there. "Why aren't you telling me?" I feel like there are unspoken accusations there. Ruby's not…she's not then vindictive. She would never imply something like that, but all I can hear ringing in my ears are words she hasn't said. Words I'm waiting for her to say.

"I did a bad thing."

"What did you do?" She asks, but it lacks the same sort of vengeful malice I was expecting.

"I…" Couldn't protect her. I put her life in danger, and the ramifications of that are clear as day. I did this. That's the only thing I know for sure. My actions, or lack of them, somehow, caused this. This could have, should have been different somehow. "I fucked up, and now I can't even close my eyes."

She doesn't understand how close she came…

We almost… _No, I almost_ …lost her.

I almost lost the woman I love.

She's waiting for me to elaborate, but what else can I possibly say? "I can't just relax! If I close my eyes, you'll be gone." I sob, feeling my heart go numb again. It feels like a backwards heavenly sort of bliss. "I can't lose you."

At least, compared to the stabbing ache I feel at the thought of losing her. That's become my greatest fear. My worst nightmare. One I never thought I could have, one I doubted could even exist before tonight. Now, I know the truth. I see how mortal she truly is, how fragile our lives together remain.

And, our love is finite. There are limits, and they can bend, perhaps even break under pressure. I know this now. Never mind the constructs of society. The bewilderment at the idea that someone could stray from the social norm. The racial discrimination, or the fact that we're huntresses. Forget all if that. It doesn't matter. Only one thing does, and that one thing is beyond everything else.

Ruby Rose is simply a mortal woman, she's not invincible. She never was. She never will be.

"I can't bury you, Ruby." I can feel my eyes burning, salty tears just streaming down my face. I can't stop them. There are just too many things I can't do right now. Too many things I doubt I'd ever have the strength to do if it ever came down to it. "I won't. Not in a dream. Never in reality. _I won't_."

I feel the back of one if her hands press into my cheek. My instinct is to nuzzle into that affection, but I stay still. I have to. I won't press against the bandage, or the wound I know is feasting underneath that loosely tied cloth. She presses harder, and I hear the murmur of agony that slips passed her lips. It's hurting her to do this. To stretch, to move, to worry about me at all.

It's hurting her.

I'm hurting her.

Shit.

Why do I always do this?

"Blake…"

I wince, and fold my ears back. I don't want to hear it. I'm afraid to hear it.

"I love you." She says.

I know she does. There's no way she doesn't. She's too devoted. Too good of a person for someone like me. I say nothing. I can't say anything. My throat's all locked up, only broken sobs are leaking out. She doesn't deserve this, either.

She doesn't deserve any of this.

I'm shaking. I'm sure she can feel it. I hear the blankets rustle, but my eyes are shut tight too. Sound is too much, if I were to see, if I were to look into her eyes, I don't think I'd have any strength in me left. I hear her groan and mutter a curse, and as I pull away from the back of her hand, she grabs at my black strands of hair, and yanks, pulling me half onto the bed, and right into her arms. She grunts, and curses again…but I can't fight her, I can't.

It'll hurt her...but, then again, I know it hurts laying on her like this too.

It has to.

But she's holding fast, my Ruby Rose...

Why do we do this to ourselves?


	9. The Worst Night Ever: Part 5 (Final)

**The Worst Night Ever: Part 5**

I go to class because I have to. Partially because Weiss threated to skewer me with her sword, partially because Yang was nagging me, and mostly because Ruby demanded that I go to class. Her eyes were all big and watery, and on top of that, arguing with her makes her cough.

...so, I didn't argue.

I wonder what the faculty think of me now. All of them were putting out the fire last night. Peach was missing from the classroom again, so I have no way of knowing her thoughts on the topic. Later, in Port's class, his lectures lack the same sort of enthusiasm as usual. Oobleck's guzzling twice his usual dose of whatever's in that canteen, and he's still teaching at half speed. Glynda excused Yang and I from combat class entirely, and Ozpin…

I don't know what to say about the headmaster, really. He said nothing when he passed by in the infirmary door. He didn't really do anything but look in the door, wave passively, and leave again. If he's disappointed, aggravated, or simply worried about Ruby, we will never know.

Weiss has been in the room all day with Ruby, but I have no idea what went on, or what even the two of them talked about. Ruby has the same bandages from last night. She needs clean ones, and Weiss hands me the roll of gauze sealed in plastic as soon as I set down my school bag. Then she drags me back out of the room, and closes the door.

"She wants you to do it." Weiss says quietly. "And she wants us to leave you two alone."

"Me?! Weiss, no, there's no way." I look over to Yang, but she's no help at all. Just shrugging.

"If that's what she wants…" Yang said, I can hear the confusion in her tone. "I mean, I'd wait around out here, just in case."

"She's naked under those bandages." I refute heatedly. "Besides, it took all of us last night to even wrap her torso!"

"Which is why I'd wait out here." Yang said, scratching the back of her neck. "I mean, if you needed help, or something." Yang huffed, looking towards the door. "I'm just gonna…um…be right back." She opened the door and slipped in, closing it behind her.

She left me with Weiss. Why in the hell would she leave me alone with Weiss!?

"It looks worse than it is." Weiss said with a deep frown. "You'll just have to get it done."

"I don't think I can."

"You will." Weiss demands, taking a step forward, getting into my personal space. Her pointy finger prods at my chest, and I take a step back, pressing into the door. "The nursing staff at Beacon won't attend ailing members of any team unless there's a severe medical reason to do so. We agreed to the student guidebook when we joined this academy. Basic medical care such as bandage changes remain _our_ job, Blake." She continues, and I feel the weight of her words on my shoulders. "Therefore, you will go in there and change Ruby's bandages without complaint. You will only come get us if you actually need help. You will succeed in this endeavor, or I will beat the daylights out of you. Do you understand this?"

"What if it was Yang?"

"It doesn't matter, you imbecilic. It's bad enough it's Ruby!" Weiss shoots back. I nurse passing by reminds us to be quiet, and Weiss looks properly subdued, she quiets her voice before ripping into me again. "We do not get the luxury of being squeamish right now. Those wounds could get infected, they're burns. They have a high chance of doing so."

The knob rattles, breaking us away, and Yang steps back out. "Give it here." Yang said, grabbing the sealed roll of gauze. "I'm doing it, but you guys should still watch the process again, and Blake, you're going to have to move her when I'm done. Those bedsheets have to get changed too."

We hesitate. Weiss looks like she wants to say something to me, but bites it down…and I know I have a few choice words to say to her as well, but right now, the only thing I can do is look at the prone form of bandages in the bed, and my heart sinks anew all over again.

"Well..? Get your asses in there." Yang looks to Weiss and I. "Both of you."

Weiss moves ahead, but I stay behind. Yang reaches out for me, a hand squeezing my shoulder, and she closes the door again.

"She's going to get hurt." Yang tells me.

I just sigh. "I know."

"No. You really don't." Yang sighed back, matching my tone. "This kind of thing has always been my job. So I know how much it really fucking sucks. I remember when I first realized there was no stopping her from getting hurt. She was running around, like most kids do. Fell and scrape her knee on one of the logs outside our house. It was a nasty gash, tore skin in a few places. She screamed bloody murder when I poured antiseptic on it. It was the worst sound ever, but, I put a band-aid on and got over it."

"This isn't just a little scrape, Yang." I muttered, but I got the feeling that was only the start of her rant. The beginnings of a sordid story that I couldn't even begin to fathom.

"Shut up and listen." Yang told me quietly. There's a gentleness in her tone. One that Weiss failed to have. I still don't know if that makes what Yang's about to tell me any easier to hear. "That was just one time. There's so many more. Once, when Uncle Qrow sparred with her for real, she slipped up, lost control of her aura. He couldn't pull his weapon back in time. He sliced right down across her chest. There was so much blood everywhere…but her aura flared back up like it was supposed to. It closed the wound, but she was sore for weeks…had trouble breathing. Needed help with everything."

I managed to look Yang in the eyes at that. Really look at her.

"This is the same damn thing, Blake. Doesn't matter if she's a little kid with a small cut, or a growing huntress laying in that bed like she is. It still sucks to see her in pain. It's always going to suck…it doesn't get easier. You just get used to feeling like shit, and dealing with it."

"You're probably right…" I say, but it doesn't make my chest ache any less.

"Come on." She says, and I obediently follow.

We'd all gotten hurt while training. It was a no brainer. Training to fight, accidents happen, and they happen hard. I couldn't count the number of times I sliced right through my aura at first. How many times my semblances didn't get off in time, and I was met with the full force blow from either one of my parents by accident. My father's bare hands could send me spiraling, which was why he refused to ever battle me with his weapon as a child. That was my mother's roll, and I was intimately acquainted when how sharp each of her knives were.

I couldn't count how many times I'd end up bleeding. How many times I could hear my mother gasp, before sighing away her fear that I'd truly been hurt.

The forests of Menagerie were dangerous. The Grimm on the seas are huge, several able to swallow an adult whole. My parents were raised in times when Faunus were thought to be animals and little more. Humans hated them, some feared them. As a result, Faunus weren't trained to hunt Grimm as a profession, but they learned as part of their lifestyle, their upbringing.

Taught to live in the wilds, to return to the wilderness, and rely on primitive means if the situation called for it. When cities wouldn't take them, and village shunned them, Faunus had no other option.

My parents reached adulthood on the winds of change for Faunus rights. My father spearheading the cause. I was born upon those winds. It wasn't easy, but, I was lucky to have been raised in cities and island communities. To have been given a domestic life, and enjoy the comforts of house and a home. Electricity, and running water. Technology...schools...things human children had always had, but that my generation was the first to experience among the large and safe cities.

Even here at beacon, I'm allowed to live with humans. Without segregation. In return for all of that, I lack the steel of my father, or the determination of my mother. The same determination, I realize, that I see in Yang at this moment.

She changed Ruby's bandages quietly.

Not even flinching, or wincing when Ruby's agony became too much to stifle between gritted teeth. All Yang offers are murmurs of acknowledgement. An "I know" here, an occasional "I'm sorry" there. Quick phrases. To the point. During one particularly inflamed area, she spoke "It'll be over soon" before becoming quiet again.

That's it. No holding back. No pausing. No sign that Ruby's injuries are turning her gut like they're turning mine.

Now that there was no panic, no fear, to hold Weiss back, she couldn't control her perfect image. Her face contorted. It was pained too. Troubled. Completely and utterly readable. Obvious to everyone who looked at her. She was studying Yang's actions carefully, with the intent to memorize them. I tried to do the same, but all I could focus on was how much all of the maneuvering and fussing with Ruby's body was hurting her. How much she was trying to act like it wasn't, and how she was completely failing miserably at it.

Mid-way through, when Yang was dealing with her legs, Ruby gave up, and began to cry. Yang didn't stop. Not when Ruby buried her face into my shoulder. Not when she started shaking. I had to lift her when Yang was done with her bandages. Weiss and Yang changed the sheets, but I was numb again by that time. How long had it been? I wasn't sure. When I was finally able to put Ruby back down, I glanced up at the clock.

"See?" It was almost a half an hour later when Yang said that. From start to finish. It was too long. "All done." It was as if the well-practiced phrase was meant to offer Ruby some measure of comfort, but all it did was make her clutch onto my shirt more tightly, and Yang backed away, peeling away the medical gloves she'd had on the whole time. She chucked them in the trash, and grabbed her things. "Blake, are you good if Weiss and I bail out? I'll sneak in some pizza and cookies from the place Ruby likes in Vale later on."

No I wasn't fine. Ruby was so far from fine at this point that it was insane…but, if we were like that, I couldn't even begin to ask how Yang felt about it all.

"We will be." I said, hoping I was telling the truth. Praying what little faith I had in my abilities was the truth.

"Good answer." Yang said, as she put a hand at the small of her girlfriend's back to usher Weiss out. Then a little more quietly she looked back. "And you're right, you know? You will be, both of you. Worst is over, right? So just remember that."


	10. Remix: Part 1

**Remix: Part 1**

There were bad ideas, and then there were worse ideas. This night, like many in the past few weeks had to fall into the latter category. She just needed to get some space from her powder keg of a dorm room. She didn't hate her roomies, far from it. That was actually the problem. She cared, and maybe, it was a bit too much. In a desperate need to relax a bit, she'd gone to Junior's to clear her head.

Now, seeing the smoldering look in golden eyes, Yang gulped. She knew, crossed the line, and she did it bigtime. "Sorry I'm so late. I didn't mean to be."

"Yang…" Blake growled.

An angry heat wafted in that one single word, darkening the blonde woman's name as it left Blake's lips. There was a molten rage in those golden irises, burning far hotter than Blake was usually known for. It was a wordless demand for an explanation, and it melted down Yang's defenses instantaneously.

She sucked in a breath, and forced it out, letting the truth flow with it. "I was out dancing…with the twins."

"I smell that." Blake's words were sharp, angry, and saddened all at once.

"It was just a little bit of fun." Yang closed the door, and leaned on it. "I didn't do anything."

"So you say." Blake hedged, no trace of kindness in her words.

"Don't you believe me?" Yang asked, but this only resulted in a wordless shrug.

The slow motion of Blake's shoulders, her refusal to talk, the way her eyes closed, Yang knew, she fucked up. She watched as Blake buried her head in her arms and sighed deeply. "I want to believe you." Wanted to, desperately, but couldn't.

Yang felt like she had been kicked in the teeth, and her voice grew ever so quiet. "Right…" She murmured before steeling her nerves. "Right, okay you want the details?"

"That would be a start." Blake groused.

"I really didn't do anything though…nothing too bad." Yang said again, fighting off her nervousness.

"Just…" Blake forced herself to bite her lip, forcing her ire down and locking it away. It was one thing knowing she was acting irrational. It was another to change her ways. It wasn't fair to treat Yang to such a toxic emotion as anger, especially when Blake was confused as to why she even felt so pissed off in the first place. "So…dancing…" Blake bit out.

"It was just a regular night, Blake. I want to start off by saying that. It got a little out of hand, but in normal ways…it's not like I meant to be out passed curfew. It just sort of happened. One of the twins started tossing back shots, and she was swaying heavily to the beat on the dance floor…"

"Typical, just like always." Blake said, hurrying Yang along.

"You know how they are. Anyway, I see her looking my way, figuring that she might be interested in a dance or two. I tossed back my drink, it was the third one, so I was feeling pretty good. It just sort of, went from there." Yang said, throwing the keys to her bike in the little basket by the door. "Next thing I know, I lost track of time…but I swear, it didn't leave the dance floor."

A growl cut through the room. "Knowing you, it didn't need to…"

"Aw, come on Blakey, don't be like that."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay…" Yang said, her voice growing softer as a small scowl reached her features. She was frustrated at herself, and her voice reflected this. "Hey…I'm sorry I got in a little later than usual. Didn't mean to break curfew. if you're worried about my grades, you don't have to be. I won't bomb the test this time." Yang said, sitting on the end of Blake's bed. "I made sure I crammed really hard for it. I'll ace it, no problem."

"It's not about the test, Yang." Weiss said, sighing as she came out of the bathroom, drying her hair. "She's upset because she was worried about you."

"Weiss!" Blake all but hissed.

"Honestly, the two of you can be so annoying sometimes." She said, clad in only her panties, as she sat on her own bed across the room. "Blake wouldn't stop obsessing over her scroll…and Yang, you know better. I don't care if those twins from the bar are your friends or not, you know how possessive Blake is."

"Which is why I didn't go to the bar." Blake sighed, giving Weiss a glare. "That said, _you_ should have."

"See, she's been like that ever since you left, and she's going to be like that all night." Weiss replied, finally doing away with the now damp towel. She draped it over the end of her desk chair to dry. Her small yet perky breasts were left on display as she reached down under her bed, pulling out a small box. Picking a vial of red dust, lightly coating her fingers, she ran them through her hair. The long tendrils of white dried easily, like wisps of silk.

"That true Blake?" Yang asked.

The stench of hard liquor made Blake crinkle her nose in disgust. She hated the strong smell. It was nothing against Yang's liberal use of the substance. It was merely that her senses were sensitive. The real question wasn't a matter of if Blake was worried or not. It was a question of her personal denial. All three of them knew that. Blake closed her book with an audible slapping of the pages, setting it aside. Her gaze turned soft, but her voice kept firm. "We are not having this discussion. You're buzzed."

"I'm not that far gone…not anymore, anyway." Yang said. "You know I don't drive unless I'm in legal limits. That's why I'm so late too. Had to sober up before driving back."

"You're far enough gone for my liking." Blake responded, causing Weiss to sigh.

"Putting this off again?" Weiss retorted with a shake of her head. "We need to figure it out."

"There's nothing to figure out." Blake shot back, her voice quiet and somber.

"Even _I_ don't believe that." Weiss glanced over to Yang. Clearly, the blonde didn't either.

"It was a one night stand." Blake replied. "That's all it was, Weiss. I don't see why you can't just let it go…Yang clearly has."

"Er…well…" Yang sighed at length, a newfound nervousness lifting up from the pit of her stomach. "I mean…I wouldn't go quite that far…"

"No, don't worry about it. You don't have to justify sex." Blake aid with a shrug. "We're three women attracted to other women. Weiss is as sexually repressed as they come, and you don't know the meaning of keeping a polite tongue in your mouth. It was bound to happen, and I…never mind."

"You what, Blake?" Weiss pressed.

Blake couldn't finish that sentence. It hurt too much to try. "It doesn't matter." She broke away from it entirely. "Anyway, we've been living together for years now. Something had to give, it finally gave, and that's the end of it."

"As insulting as I find your analysis of my intimate life, you're wrong about one thing." Weiss began imperiously. "It doesn't _have_ to be the end of anything."

"It doesn't have to be the start of anything, either." Blake shot back defensively.

"I'd argue that." Weiss said slowly. "Perhaps we let things go a little too far…"

"Oh, gee," The blonde quipped, "you think?"

Weis ignored Yang's acidic retort. "The fact of the matter is, drunk actions are sober thoughts. I don't proclaim to be any sort of counselor, but we need to at least agree that there is something going on here. We can all cut the sexual tension with a knife, and we've already gone and done the act, the very least we can do is acknowledge it."

"The only thing going on here, is that we managed to lose our integrity for one night." Blake told her. "Happens to the best of us. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"Which is why you're more ashamed than you should be." Yang said, annoyed with herself. "You've had a stick up your ass ever since that night, and I can't figure out why."

"Because you won't pull your head out of yours!"

"Better than burying it under the rug…"

"Enough!" Weiss shouted above the two verbal combatants. "Youthful indiscretion aside, allowing it to ruin our friendship would be the worst thing we could do."

"That's what it is now?" Yang asked incredulously. "Youthful indiscretion?"

"You screwed her on the desk, Yang." Blake interjected. "I'd hardly call that romantic."

"And what the fuck would you know about romance?" Yang shot back, the room turning deathly silent at the question. "You told us that you loved us. You might have been tipsy but you weren't trashed to hell…you knew what you were saying, and what it would mean."

"Don't pin this on me…" Blake snarled.

"You were gone the next day!" Yang raged.

"Neither one of you said it back." The hurt in Blake's voice was insurmountable. She didn't need to shout it, it was loud and clear, ringing in Yang's ears. "I get Weiss, she's so emotionally constipated that I didn't expect anything out of her…but you, Yang, really? When the woman who always wears her heart on her goddamn sleeve can't even have enough respect to say something one way or the other…you're damn right I ran away, I felt like a used piece of trash after I woke and realized neither one of you said anything…chances were, neither one of you would!"

The room when silent then, but Yang found her voice first. It was harsh, grinding on the back of her throat in the worst ways. "So, that's it, huh? Weiss gets an out just because daddy dearest is a negligent jackass?"

"Bigoted, negligent jackass, more like." Blake returned. "But, you're the one who drew that conclusion, not me."

"I would really appreciate it, if we kept my bloodline out of this conversation." Weiss broke in, her own emotions crisp, and her words the same.

"Isn't that what she just said?" Yang surmised darkly. "She gave you an out because of your upbringing. I don't get the same treatment, this all has to be my fault."

"That isn't what I just said, and if you put words in my mouth again, you're sleeping out in the hall." Blake protested. "All I said, is that Weiss is much more reserved that you are. You always say what you feel. You didn't say anything. What was I to think, Yang?"

"Well here's a news flash for you, I don't say things I don't mean and I don't just hand out important answers like that to just anyone!" Yang roared. "A tipsy night of sex between three friends makes sense to me! That's fine. It was fun, but then one starts spouting off about how she loves the other two at the same time? Call me crazy, but that's not something that normally happens. You freaked me the hell out, and I deserved time to process that, same as Weiss."

"Granted." Blake snarled back. "However, I'm _not_ just some random girl off the street, you could at least say that."

"Didn't think you needed the memo, Blake…"

Dainty palms slapped down onto the desk nearby. "Isn't anyone going to ask me how I feel in any of this?" Weiss sighed. "Or is it that you just don't care? It wouldn't be the first time I've been used, you know." She was tired of walking on eggshells. Exhausted of sleepless nights and wasted energy. She had resigned herself to being the practical one in the group, and in doing so, she had forced her mind into a withdrawn box of halfhearted platitudes. She thought emotional dissonance would be a small price to pay, but she was proving herself wrong. "How much do you want? I'll write a check."

"Weiss…"

"No." Weiss said hotly. "Yang, I'm done. I'm tired of this. I'm not the only heartless bitch in this equation, I'm looking across the room at two of them…watching you two fight, knowing I must not mean anything if I'm so easily written off…that's fine, I can take it, but at least say I'm meaningless to my face." Weiss whispered. It was easy to forget just how easily she could strip paint off the wall with her tongue if she wanted, and this time was no different. "What do you want from me?"

It wasn't a question either one could answer. Weiss commanded the sort of fury that demanded silence in favor of a moment of sorely needed reflection. The problem was, the air was too thick with denial and admittance alike, the two vortexes entirely different and yet, the same. Weiss already suspected the answer, and the outcome terrified her. She didn't know how to deal with another person being reliant on her emotionally, and yet both of these women seemed to hold that impossibly high expectation.

Weiss doubted she would rise to that occasion and fully succeed while doing so. The actual reality was as painful as it was unnerving…none of them were the epitome of stable, and they were in no position to act upon the whims laid bare amongst each other.

With a sigh she finished dressing for bed, grabbed her pillow, and stalked across the hall to sleep with the rest of team JNPR.


	11. Remix: Part 2

The room across the hall was a place that Weiss didn't often frequent when it came to sleeping. Primarily because it wasn't her room. Secondly, was because all of the beds were easily taken, and in some cases overcrowded. Still, Pyrrha ushered Weiss in, having heard the shouting match. Weiss felt instantly that she didn't belong here. All four beds were pushed against the walls in sets of two.

On one side of the room, Ren and Jaune cocooned themselves around Nora, the three of them sleeping peacefully. On the other side, a very upset looking Ruby Rose hugged a pillow tightly to her chest, sniffling.

"You fought again." The youngest among them accused, feeling more and more like a worthless team leader by the day.

"I'm sorry, Ruby." Weiss murmured.

"Yang's drunk, isn't she?" Ruby asked, and Weiss could tell just how transparent the entire argument had been.

Weiss hated feeling so guilty, knowing that she was partially to blame for the lingering tears in Ruby's eyes. "She's not drunk, just tipsy...I'm sure that we all said things that we simply didn't mean." Weiss said, trying to offer some measure of comfort, knowing she was obviously falling short.

"It's the same thing." Ruby said, squeezing the pillow tighter, which was in and if itself like a slap in the face.

"There is no use worrying about it tonight. Weiss, you'll bunk with us again, and we will set this whole night behind us." Pyrrha replied, climbing back into bed, and coaxing Ruby rest. In all honesty, it was an easy thing to do, as she curled up and cuddled into Pyrrha desperately as the older girl held her close. While doing so, she watched as Weiss awkwardly slipped into bed beside Ruby, keeping her distance regulated to the absolute edge of the bed.

Honestly, it was amazing that Weiss didn't topple out from her precarious perch.

Still, Pyrrha couldn't worry about that right now. She held Ruby securely until the girl fell back to sleep, thankful that Ruby was just as heavy a sleeper as Nora. Then, with all of the skill of her training, she slipped out from Ruby's grasp, a pillow laying in her place as she quietly snuck out of the room. Using her semblance, forcing doors open was a fairly easy task, and she opened the RWBY dorm room without even thinking twice.

There was only one person in the room.

Thankfully, it was the one Pyrrha wanted to speak with the most. "Give me one good reason, just one, Yang, as to why I shouldn't request an arena match with you."

"Uh, because we normally break things when our teams get rambunctious?"

"I made no mention of our team's involvement, although I may be persuaded to knock three-fourths of team RWBY half way across the arena floor. I'd be more than happy to, if it would cease this quarreling." Pyrrha was livid, but she knew there was only one thing she needed to say that would hurt Yang far more than getting roughed up in a sparring match. "Ruby fell asleep crying, and she was crying because of you. This is starting to become a common occurrence, and I _don't_ like it."

Though Yang's eyes were a deeper shade of lilac than usual, they weren't red. Her answer was subdued into something else, and she didn't even try to hide it. "Yeah, I have a pretty good idea of what my yelling makes her feel like…even when it's not at her, Ruby's a big softy like that."

"Yet, you still all manage to shout like lunatics." Pyrrha chastised. "The walls are thin, you know this. What's worse, your bellowing carries loud and clear to my room, which if you haven't noticed is where Ruby's been seeking refuge. Now even that space isn't far enough away from some peace and quiet."

"Yeah, well I wasn't the only one with my head up my ass."

"No, but you _are_ Ruby's older sister, and I expect better from you particularly." Pyrrha said slowly as she looked around the room, collecting her thoughts. It was a lonely place to be. She had no idea where Blake had gone off to, but the open window implied it was someplace to get some fresh air.

"I wanted better for myself too, but we're up shit creek without a damn paddle, and it's not completely my fault."

"I am well aware. In case you haven't inquired as to where Weiss goes after fighting, it just happens to be in my bed...my bed with Ruby and I."

"Yeah, well the little snow-cone isn't a threat, Pyr...no need to get possessive."

"The problem I find is that Weiss gets pushed to that point...and that Ruby sees it. Speculation is one thing, but to see the visible proof of your arguments doesn't help matters in the slightest. Weiss is not an affectionate person by nature. She doesn't go around sharing the sleeping space of others unless something is well and truly wrong, and Ruby knows that better than anyone."

Yang didn't react one way or the other, and that only served to ignite the over all fury Pyrrha felt to all new levels. It hurt to see someone such as Yang moved to be so apathetic. It was not a comforting thing to witness, in fact, it was slightly terrifying. Pyrrha knew how to channel Yang's rage, or redirect her brash actions into positive outcomes. The one thing Pyrrha could not deal with, however, was a woman of Yang's disposition suddenly not seeming to care at all.

It was time for a different tactic, this one was sure to be a sore spot. Preparing herself incase Yang flew off the handle, she delivered an accusation that she felt might get a reaction to work from. "Ruby might be a team leader, but she's not equipped to handle your sexual escapades. She should not be expected to."

"Yeah, I get that, but, it's not just about sex, though god knows that's how the blowout started..." Yang looked down to the floor sadly. "Fact is, it was all a long time coming, and I should have known."

"I want to believe your concern is genuine, Yang, but I find the matter difficult. With the way the three of you keep arguing, it seems as though you've forgotten about Ruby's own feelings in all of this. Her team is in shambles, and even if she wanted to alleviate the situation, she has no way to do that. You've made it impossible."

"Tell that to Weiss and Blake." Yang groused.

"It that truly the length I will have to go to?" Pyrrha asked with an upraised eyebrow. "Have things become so completely out of hand, so completely juvenile, that I will need to step in and handle this?"

"Trust me, I never wanted this shit to get so screwed up."

This, Pyrrha realized wasn't working either...she needed to get Yang moving, to get drawn into action, to want to be active. She needed to get Yang into some sort of emotional state of mind. A boiling point, an extreme of almost anything to set the fire under her ass and motivate her...she needed something, or someone...

Pyrrha walked over to the window, and looked, but couldn't see Blake nearby. It was probably for the better, but Pyrrha couldn't help her outrage. She was angry, and she made no question about that as she crossed her arms. Her finger tapped on her bicep repeatedly as she gathered her thoughts. Unbeknownst to most in Beacon, she had once been a team leader herself, and she knew the heavy burden it could become. Furthermore, many people could easily forget the drive and determination that had carried her so far into her fame and small fortune.

To be a top contender, she had to be able to withstand cut-throat environments and ridicule. She could be harsh if she needed to be, ruthless when the situation demanded, and downright cruel when she had no other option presented to her. She hated being authoritative with anyone, but, she would not stand idle. She chose her words with the intent to cut bone deep, and leave a chilling reminder of just who was being harmed residually by all of this.

It was going to be a low blow, but it was the only one she could make, and hope that it worked.

"When I first starting dating Ruby, you told me about her upbringing. How lonely she was, how hard it was for her to fit in and make friends. You told me that you didn't want me dating her. That she was too young, but that she was happy, so you would put up with it...but in return, you made me promise I would never let anything bring harm to her. You made me swear to you that I would do everything within my power to ensure Ruby's happiness."

She leaned forward then, grabbing at Yang's mane of blond hair, not tugging, but easily in a position she could if she wanted to. Pyrrha locked her smoldering gaze completely on Yang...there was fire in those usually lilac eyes. "I did not make that promise halfheartedly. This entire situation is causing Ruby more stress than I am willing to tolerate. I don't know the details, and frankly, I do not wish to know. However, if you, Blake, and Weiss don't come to a solution, and do it quickly, I will step in. You will not like the consequences of that outcome."

"That a threat, Pyr?" Yang growled, hands balling into fists, considering weather or not just to beat the daylights out of the woman holding onto her hair. It was a power play only, Yang knew, but she still didn't like it.

"I do not make threats. I give ultimatums." Pyrrha murmured.

"If you weren't Ruby's girl, I'd beat the shit out of you..."

"You'd try. You'd fail." Pyrrha said, narrowing her eyes. "Then again, without your gauntlets maybe you'd stand a chance." She respected Yang's power greatly. In a match against Yang's rage unchecked, the battle would be close, and Pyrrha had always admired Yang's abilities...but this was not a battle of pure unmitigated power. The world had laws, huntresses had social codes, and Yang was a woman that had a sense of pride...the selfsame pride Pyrrha had.

They wouldn't go to blows over this, not because Yang didn't want to, but because they both knew better. If a fight happened, it would be in the ring...not in the closed space of a dorm room.

"Back the fuck up, Pyr, not kidding."

"Neither am I. That promise was all-inclusive and indiscriminate." Pyrrha hissed out, pulling only slightly before letting go. "Trust me when I say that you do not want to test me on this. Woman up and get it done, Yang. That is not a request."

Her footfalls were hard against the floor as she went back to her own room. She had spent too many nights having her sleep interrupted by the fighting, and though Ruby didn't belittle any of her teammates, or think less of them, she had no idea what to do, either.

Pyrrha sighed to herself. When she was a team leader, hormones were the last thing on everyone's minds, but Beacon was different.

It was a breeding ground of emotion, a downpour of every vice and downfall a hunter would find themselves facing down at the end of graduation. Though most of them were legally adults now, that usually confusing phase was made worse by the fact that their lives were not certain. It was hard not to take every moment with urgency, to try to cram a lifetime's worth of experiences into the short and fragile time within the safety of Beacon's walls.

Even the staff promoted this horrendous behavior. The student commissary sold liquor to anyone with a student I.D, no matter their age. Prophylactics were dispensed on every floor openly. There were even private rooms in Beacon that students could procure for such activities. Many did, and others had no reservations about getting up to no good with their trusted teammates.

The teachers pointedly ignored most of the fighting among students. Even racial disputes were left to be taken care of by the student population for the most part. Only the worst of offenses were overseen by staff members. Teacher were advisors only, offering advice willingly, but rarely taking action. They turned the other cheek when property was damaged. It seemed that only Glynda Goodwitch truly minded when students ran amok, and that was likely because she was the one to do most, if not all, of the repairs.

Beacon was not a civilian school.

Beacon wasn't even a mere combat school.

Beacon was a proving ground. A final step, a last precaution.

Only hunters and huntresses taught within these walls, only students wiling to learn their ways attended. Everything that happened here, happened with a reason in mind. Even on this terrible night, the same held true. Beacon would bend them, even break them, if that's what it took to make each of the students powerful warriors. Pyrrha yet again was forced to remind herself this school was made to test teams at their limits.

Team RWBY had hit theirs.

Unfortunately, a new day did not mean a clean slate. In the wee hours of the morning, when Weiss crept back into her own room, Pyrrha was still awake. She busied herself by rubbing circles on Ruby's back, as though the action would keep her from waking in spite of the muffled sounds of dorm life. Many teams were up as early as five or six in the morning, and the chatter in the hallway increased as those teams headed for their daily routines.

Some trained, others enjoyed an early breakfast before the cafeteria grew to a usual dull roar, and others took to studying in the library to finish assignments that would otherwise never be complete. Ren normally woke up around this time, sleepily rubbing his eyes before carefully extracting himself from one or both of his clingy lovers. Today was no different as he turned off the alarm before it could go off, grabbed his supplies, and headed directly for the showers, which were also co-ed.

Loathe though she was to admit it, Pyrrha new she needed to do the same, and pulled herself from the covers to start her day. Hopefully, Ruby would be granted a few more moments of peace before the day tormented team RWBY again in earnest.


End file.
